The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-03-03
STEVENS LONG RIDE.
The Famous Bicycle Enthusiasts Strange
Trip Around the Globe.

|
Trip Around the Globe.
| Before the Olympic Club of San Fran
cisco, Thomas Stevens, the daring bi
cycle rider, gave a graphic account O
his travels recently. He said that tn
idea of making tour of the world on
bicycle first took possession of him il
Denver in 1888. From there he went t,
San Francisco, bought a bicycle, anC
practiced riding in the Golden Cat,
:! Park. After taking chances on break
| ing his neck about a hundred times h,
became expert enough to begin hi,
journey, and then he started across tn,
continent. His first discOuragemen
was received at Benicia, where a Ger
man offered TO bet him five dollars thai
he would never get beyond Boca. HI
got beyond Boca, reached the sink o1
the Humboldt river in Nevada, and fol
lowed the old 40 trail. He then de.
scribed his journey across the plains
and Middle States until he reached
Boston. Here he made arrangements
with magazine company to make a
tour of the world. He reached Boston
after trip of l03 days from San Fran.
cisco. On the ID of May, 1884, he was
i'll Liverpool. He crossed England and
went to France. The longest run he
ever made in one day was from Paris to
Nancy. distance of one hundred miles.
He crossed the "blue Alsatian Mount
aims" and the Rhine, passing down the
valley of the latter. All along the Rhine
he found the shadow Of military surveil-
lance.
why" said the speaker, in his dryest
way, ''even the scarecrows are dressed
in uniform" He pursued his way
through the Black Forest, Bavaria.
Munich and into Hungary. He found
the Hungarians in an enthusiastic mood.
They were delighted with his bicycle.
They pride themselves upon their love
of sports. In Servia he found to his sur
prise that bicycle club of twenty men,
berS existed. There each owner of a
bicycle is proud of the name which his
bicycle bears. such as Joy of the Road"
and Oriental Beauty" By way of
Bulgaria, he reached Constantinople on
the ID of July. After leaving Con-
stantinople he found that while in Asia
Minor he would have to keep lookout
for brigands. Shortly after leaving
Angora two merry gentlemen of the
road met him They were armed with
huge swords and blundcrbuss pistols
However, when he displayed his small
pistol with its muzzle on level with
their eyes they suddenly bethOught
themselves of an engagement elsewhere,
and left him in a hurry. Through
Armenia he was called upon in various
villages to gain the good will Of the
people by giving exhibitions of bicycle
riding. He was well received by the
Persians. All that he saw tit to COM
plain of them for was their inOrdinate
curiosity. Among the wandering tribes
he was treated kindly, repOsing at night
in the tents of chiefs. He found that
some of them were treacherous, having
Il peculiar habit of treating their guests
well and then. upon their leaving, sneak
ing ahead of them and robbing them
of all they possessed. At Teheran the
bicyclist was obliged to winter for five
months. This delay gave him an OPP
portunity of learning something about
the language. He intended to cross AT
ghanistan into India, but was forbidden
to do so by the English and Russian Gov
ernments. He made several attempts
to cross in spite of orders to the contrary,
but was finally seized by the Afghans
and detained ut Herat nine days, after
which he was placed over the Persian
border again. He was severely handled
by mob of Afghan fanatics who OBJ
jected to white men and strange things.
such rs bicycles. He was at last obliged
to go back to the Caspian Sea. where he
took the Russian steamer for BatOum.
He reached the northern line of India
and found Il splendid road from there to
Calcutta, 1,600 miles distant. 1t was
the English military road, built of
cement. His bicycle causes cOnsterna-
ton among numberless tribes of chatter
ing monkeys. From Calcutta it was
to get across Burmah into
China, so he was obliged to go by steamer
to Canton. He, however. made IL short
trip into China, but after being chased
by bowling mObs of coolies, who in
sinuated that he was 'faukwia," and
who enforced their impressions with
stones and cobbles, he gave up any ex-
tended tour of the Flowery Kingdom,
and sought NagaSaki in Japan. He
travelled eight hundred miles from there
20 Yokohama, and found that the |
Japanese had made great progress in
he matter of building roads. There |
was strong contrast between their ideas |
If progress and the Chinese principle of
living as did the contemporaries of Con-
ucius and other heathens who existed |
n some mythical age, either before or
shortly after the flood.
Mr.. Stevens also exhibited the bicycle |
lpon which he made his famous Journey.
md which, contrary to the general be-
ief, was not destroyed by the Chinese.
Cor. Philadelphia Call.